What Shall We Do?

Today, my telephone kept ringing most of the time, receiving phone calls from my friends who do not wear hijab and drive cars, asking same question “What shall we do?”

I know the reason behind this fear and anxiety, I heard early in the morning that two women were driving their cars in Al-Yermouk district in Baghdad shot dead and other three were wearing trousers in Ameritiya district which is supposed to be part of Zerqawi monarchy” Imara” in Iraq including other districts like Dura, Ghazaliyia and Hay Al-Jihad.

A friend told me that she can not wear hijab because she does not believe in, I replied to her ”You believe or not, we are all infidels according to Taliban and Iran Mulas ( clerics), you have two choices either you wear hijab or you leave.”

The incident which aggravated the situation more was the abduction of the Emirates' consul who was surrounded by heavy security and high concrete walls, “ If the abductors are able to get the Emirates' consul, do you think they can not get us?” my friend asked.

It is really unbelievable, how the reconstruction campaign falls apart whenever it starts in Iraq while violence reconstruction campaign builds up in such a rapid speed and systematic way to maintain every body everywhere.

I looked in the newspaper and stopped with these pieces of news,
an Iraqi man his name is “ Omer” is asking the Directorate of IDS to change his name to
“ Mustafa”, because such name can cause the killing of its carrier.

A woman is applying to the Directorate of Education to move her son from Baghdad to Najef after receiving threat to leave her house because she is Shiite in a dominated Sunni neighborhood.

Two Shiite families in Dura district from Nasiyria province visited at night by 10 gunmen who ordered the families to leave within three hours or they will be killed.

Six members of a Sunni family live in Jamila district near Sader city, were kidnapped by death squads, one of them was able to flee by miracle while the other five killed immediately.

A new order issued to the families whom one of its members is killed, when they hang the black placard which declares the funeral, they should not say he or she is killed due to coward and treacherous incident as all placards say on the walls of Baghdad, if they are written in this way, other members of the family will be killed too.

I needed to go to the union of Iraqi Journalists to renew my ID in Waziriyia district, each journalist inside the dark union, as usual no power, was asking his colleague , “ Are you still alive?”

After that I stood in the street looking for a taxi, I found one and jumped in immediately, it is really difficult to stay long in the street on these days.

After ten minutes, the driver who was in his fifties with dyed black hair and shaved beard took two pieces of papers from the empty front seat beside him and gave them to me.

” What is that?” I asked him.

“ This is something very useful for you, I give it to women who hire my car for the sake of God, I always receive big compliment of them, I do not want anything just give me the cost of printing, only 500 ID.” The driver said.

I looked in the papers, they were full of religious prayers written by a man is called
“ Kashkul Al-Ihsai”, I turned to the driver and said, “ I have these prayers at home, you can have them, I do not need them.”

He looked at me nervously, “ I did these prayers for you and women who do not wear hijab because you might be kidnapped by any moment but with these prayers, the kidnappers will get blind whenever they look at you.”

I told him I know but I have so many prayers like that at home, he replied “ I just wanted 500 ID that is all.”

“The man you see in front of you is not a driver, Iam a Shiite cleric studied at Al-Huwaza in Iran and married to an Iranian woman, she forced me to put off my turban and shave my beard because she is worried that I will be killed and she is a stranger in this country.” He told me that while he was pretending that he is doing his best not to look at me.

“ You do not know how God is angry of you because you do not wear hijab and he will be angry of me too if I look at you.” He said in a reproaching tone.

Another friend told me that she is so worried because she lives in Zayouna district in Baghdad , I asked her “Why?”

She said “ I heard Zerqawi criticizing people of Zayouna and Palestine street.”

What did he say?

Men of these two districts are coward because they do not resist the Americans and their women are dressed indecently, I will give them a lesson soon.